Black Friday 1st stage and 2nd Stages arrived!

[KGNickl]

Just got my HOG (1) cold water first stage and (3) 2nd stages that I purchased from Dive Right In Scuba during the Black Friday sale! All I gotta say is I'm very impressed by the build quality.

The regulators I've had before this were the Oceanic GT3 and Aeris AT400 and don't get me wrong they are great breathing regulators that I liked. But... the 2nd stages were kinda light weight plastic and seemed flimsy.

The HOG 1st stage is very heavy and solid. Has a great looking finish. The ports are placed exactly where i want them and the top ports are on a spinner thing. The HOG 2nd stages are sturdy plastic and have some metal to them. Because they seem to be built so solid they are a little heavier than light weight all plastic 2nd stage, but not too heavy. The lever and knob are big, which will be great when cold water diving in big thick gloves. I have not dove them yet, but will hopefully get some dives in when I go to Riviera Maya mexico later this month.

I paired the 1st stage and (2) 2nd stages w/ my an Aeris Epic AI computer, hose caps, MiFlex hoses (5' primary, 22" secondardy, 22" inflator, 29" extra/drysuit).

Then the other 2nd stage I put on my 17 cu ft. pony bottle that has home made straps, a button guage, 36" MiFlex hose, and Zeagle Razor 1st Stage.

 

[frankc420]

Glad you like them and thanks for the review!

Don't forget, if you haven't already, leave a review on the DRIS site as well, you get $5 per review you leave in loyalty points. Crazy what I can talk Mike into these days!

 

[cerich]

Just got my HOG (1) cold water first stage and (3) 2nd stages that I purchased from Dive Right In Scuba during the Black Friday sale! All I gotta say is I'm very impressed by the build quality.

The regulators I've had before this were the Oceanic GT3 and Aeris AT400 and don't get me wrong they are great breathing regulators that I liked. But... the 2nd stages were kinda light weight plastic and seemed flimsy.

The HOG 1st stage is very heavy and solid. Has a great looking finish. The ports are placed exactly where i want them and the top ports are on a spinner thing. The HOG 2nd stages are sturdy plastic and have some metal to them. Because they seem to be built so solid they are a little heavier than light weight all plastic 2nd stage, but not too heavy. The lever and knob are big, which will be great when cold water diving in big thick gloves. I have not dove them yet, but will hopefully get some dives in when I go to Riviera Maya mexico later this month.

I paired the 1st stage and (2) 2nd stages w/ my an Aeris Epic AI computer, hose caps, MiFlex hoses (5' primary, 22" secondardy, 22" inflator, 29" extra/drysuit).

Then the other 2nd stage I put on my 17 cu ft. pony bottle that has home made straps, a button guage, 36" MiFlex hose, and Zeagle Razor 1st Stage.

Thanks for the kind comments.

 

[iztok]

I dove D1 Cold and 2nd stage down to 95ft and around 48F w/o any problems and this was the longest dive at that depth for me so far (quarry cold water diving with doubles for the first time). Too bad they got dry past two weeks as I've been on the road unable to dive.

 

[HenrikBP]

Finally had some time to really look over the sets I bought on Black Friday. Beautiful regs.

I hadn't noticed until I put the first stages on my doubles, but the chrome is a tad darker than regular "bright" chrome. This "dark chrome" looks fantastic. Really classy quality look to it. Perfect machining, fit and finish.

I opened up the second stages, and they look as good on the inside as the outside. Very nice looking reg with lots of metal for heat exchange. Good stuff.

I mounted the 1st stages on the doubles and hoses will route nice and tight with the 1st stages horizontal. I would love to see HOG look into a 5th LP port turret bolt though. I've been diving my old SP regs on my doubles until now, and the angled 1st stage works really nicely for hose routing without hose bends:





Thanks for a great product. Looking forward to diving them.

Henrik

 

[iztok]

Can you post pics of how you routed the new regs? Perhaps even more close-up on both left and right post? I an new to doubles and could use good pics to properly do mine

 

[HenrikBP]

Can you post pics of how you routed the new regs? Perhaps even more close-up on both left and right post? I an new to doubles and could use good pics to properly do mine

Sorry - I haven't installed hoses yet, just mounted the stages and took a quick look for a general idea - and I'm quite new at doubles as well. But Mike from Dive Right in Scuba posted a few shots. I'm guessing you could look for pictures of how hoses route on Apeks DS4 and it wouldn't be too far off.

Actually, take a look here and imagine that you place the 1st stages with the diaphragms facing out instead of in as in these pictures - that should give you an idea:

Evolve wing using DS4 stages - hose routing pics - DIR Explorers

Post pictures when you give it a try.

Henrik

 

[foglesre]

I just received my first stage and two second stages from Dive Right In Scuba.

They do appear to be beautiful quality. I love the way the second stage comes apart - very simple - metal ring, cover, diaphragm. (That's one thing I don't like about otherwise superb Scubapro second stages.) Pressure gauges also look nice.

As far as the first stage, time will tell if the beautiful, smoked chrome holds up as was well as traditional, tried-and-true, environmentally unfriendly chrome. But I will never give up my Scubapro MK18 and MK25 regs unless it's for another five-port swivel. You just can't beat the routing for either a single or doubles setup.

So that's my challenge to the guys at Edge - figure out how to make the first stage a five-port swivel like Salvo did! There is a derth of five-port swivel diaphragm regulators. With the demise of Salvo, to my knowlege, there is currently only the Scubapro MK19 and it's not available in the US...

Bob